New York Senate roils in Democrats' redistricting effort

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's often contentious state Senate erupted Tuesday as Democrats sought to force a public airing of a redistricting reform bill now bottled up in a GOP controlled committee.

Democrats in the minority tried to use an arcane rule in a committee meeting to force Republicans into a potentially embarrassing public hearing on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to reform redistricting. The bill would put redistricting in the hands of an independent commission, a reform good-government groups say is central to ending Albany's dysfunction. Majority parties have for decades redrawn lines in their chamber to protect their power.

But the Republican-controlled Rules Committee rejected the Democrats' petition for a public hearing as flawed. Republicans called it a political charade when the budget — due April 1 — and the need to create jobs are far more pressing. The Republican majority isn't supporting the proposal at this time, even though every member signed a pledge during the fall campaign to do so.

Republicans instead sought to focus on a major economic development bill, one that would provide discounted power to employers.

"It's going to help companies to employ people throughout this state. That's what's important to people, not redistricting," said Republican Sen. Thomas Libous of Broome County after the floor debate.

The Power for Jobs bill passed the Senate, but faces an uncertain future in the Assembly.

The Senate's Republican majority said it hasn't abandoned its pledge last fall to reform redistricting, but said there is still time to act and a constitutional amendment might be needed to reform redistricting. That would ensure Republicans would control Senate redistricting over the next two years. Those election districts would remain in place for a decade, until the next Census.

"We will move forward on a plan that we will believe is an independent plan," Libous said. "Trust us, we will deal with it."

He accused Democrats of a charade over redistricting reform that the Democrats failed to act upon while they held the majority from 2008 to 2010.

"I've never seen this much parliamentary jujitsu just to avoid one word being used on the Senate floor: redistricting," said Democratic Sen. Daniel Squadron of Manhattan. "Clearly they will go to any lengths, squelch any debate to avoid talking about the pledge they promised to keep."

He referred to all Republican senators who signed former the reform pledge pushed during the elections last fall by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch. Republicans, then in the minority, quickly signed the pledge to enact redistricting this year and criticized Democrats, then in the majority, for being slow to sign the pledge.

During the debate, Democratic Sen. Eric Adams of Brooklyn accused Democrats of "dissing" fellow Democrats by cutting off their debate in a discourse so wild that senators couldn't agree on whether a vote had been taken.

"At some point I am entitled to speak," said Democratic Sen. Michael Gianaris of Queens, calling the back-and-fourth "absurd."

"You cannot stop me," Gianaris said. "I will not allow you to rule me out of order."